Aquatics, the best of the worst?

My fledgling aquatic experience so far:

1. Baldeserini: Del Mar by Hugo Boss – Nice aquatic note up front, but quickly gets sweet (cinnamon?) and powdery. 2. Hugo Boss Selection – Almost the same as Del Mar! However, not as sweet on the drydown, and smells aquatic much longer. I like it better. 3. Nautica Voyage – A bit edgier and more inventive than the first two. Drier, saltier, with notes of moss, “sailcloth”, and “hemp” added. Less like the smell of water; more like the smell of a day on a sailboat, I imagine. Smelled a lot of marine notes first wear, second and third wears yielded more moss. Undecided, though the creators were more ambitious with their goals for this one.4. Creed Erolfa – A favorite here. Only tried it once, but I remember a lot of pepper and no marine or aquatic stuff going on there. Need to try it again to be fair.

Questions:- Aquatics in general seem to have bored most of the regulars here, yes? - The similarities between the first two forward my theory that middle of the road designers think we’re idiots, even tough I really like Selection. - What are some better titles to try, either marine in general like Voyage, or pure aquatic (smells like water)?

Re: Aquatics, the best of the worst?

To be honest, I am not even sure where the line between what is considered a citrus and an aquatic merge anymore... I am not a fan of aquatics at alll, but there are still a few frags of that variety that find their way to my skin quite often.

Kenzo PH - as has already been mentioned countless times before. A salty very 'sea like' fragrance... not as light as many in this category... very authentic oceanic smell.. that almost brings a breezy mist to memory along the shore of the sea...

L'eau Par Kenzo - lemony <yuzu> watery goodness.... very fresh, but the slight vanillic base helps to keep it from being too sharp.. very versatile.. nothing groundbreaking.. but one of the best in this "style" of scent.

Actually, those are the only ones I can think of at this time... heh, but I must admit, Kenzo does aquatics/freshness.. in a way that sets itself apart from others...

Re: Aquatics, the best of the worst?

Aquatics... ahhh haven't played with these for a while. The only aquatic I wear nowadays is Millesime Imperial but let's discuss what I once wore (and swore to as my favorite category of fragrance - yes, I was once a green horn who thought aquatics were the best).

Back in 98, I got CK Escape. I don't really consider this an aquatic scent (more of a fresh, fruity scent) but I guess that's the category it falls under. This was my staple and signature scent for a WHOLE year. That's right, crazy eh? Only one fragrance for an entire year. But it was versatile. It was easy to wear. Very clean smelling. I still like it but I never reach for it except to smell it for nostalgic reasons.

Back in 99, I got Acqua di Gio. And what a scent it was! This was when everyone was still into Cool Water and AdG just blew it out of the water. Everyone loved it on me and I was soon known at school as 'the guy who smelled really good.' (BTW, this was during highschool and my high school was kind of small so people generally knew who was who) I think it was AdG that really spurred on the aquatic-era of fragrances (that we are still enduring/recovering from). It's actually a good fragrance (except that one sour note near the middle) and the main reason why people don't like it is because of its popularity. It's a love and hate relationship for me. Personally, I never put this on anymore. I have many other fragrances that are bounds better.

A year and a half down the road, when all the other guys at school went out and bought AdG, I decided to grab a bottle of L'Eau D'Issey. Quite funny because I bought this in the winter so now, this scent is associated with winter (to me, at least). In fact, I think this scent is great for all seasons. It has both fresh and spicy qualities to it which is really unique, I think. To me, it IS a fresh, spicy fragrance - not an aquatic. But maybe because I only picked this one up in the winter and my memory of it was more for it's spicier quality. I'm sure if I wore this during the summer that I'd be interpreting it differently. My liking of this fragrance was quite shortlived, however. It was very tiring to wear and my nose was quickly tired/bored of this frag.

I guess those are the three main aquatics of my past.

Nowadays, if I were to wear an aquatic, it would have to be:
1. Millesime Imperial
2. Allure Sport
3. Givenchy Blue Label

Haven't found any other aquatics yet. However, I'm looking to test Erolfa, Aqua Motu, and Mare. They all sound really good. I guess it'll be something to do next summer..

Re: Aquatics, the best of the worst?

Originally Posted by nearfantastica

To be honest, I am not even sure where the line between what is considered a citrus and an aquatic merge anymore... I am not a fan of aquatics at alll, but there are still a few frags of that variety that find their way to my skin quite often.

Kenzo PH - as has already been mentioned countless times before. A salty very 'sea like' fragrance... not as light as many in this category... very authentic oceanic smell.. that almost brings a breezy mist to memory along the shore of the sea...

L'eau Par Kenzo - lemony <yuzu> watery goodness.... very fresh, but the slight vanillic base helps to keep it from being too sharp.. very versatile.. nothing groundbreaking.. but one of the best in this "style" of scent.

Actually, those are the only ones I can think of at this time... heh, but I must admit, Kenzo does aquatics/freshness.. in a way that sets itself apart from others...

Re: Aquatics, the best of the worst?

Originally Posted by OlfaOmega

Thanks for the tip! You've got me really curious about Kenzo PH.

No problem.. Kenzo PH is a really strange beast of a fragrance... When i say that it has an oceanic smell, I don't mean..oceanic..the way that most fragrance houses understand it as a mild whiff of water and ozone... the kenzo oceanic is a seaweedy, salty.. brine like fragrance... as I said before.. it's quite authentic..

let me know if you'd like to sample it, I'd be happy to send you a mini vial at no cost.

Re: Aquatics, the best of the worst?

Can't have an aquatic thread without Comptoir Sud Pacifique's Aqua Motu. Not quite as briney as Kenzo but there are times when it smells exactly like the bacterial laced soup you get splashed with in the front row at Seaworld. That or an aquarium about two days past the time when you should have cleaned it.

Re: Aquatics, the best of the worst?

Just a side note, we got a bunch of Baldessarini Del Mar EdTs and Deo Sticks in at TJ Maxx last week. I don't remember the price for sure (didn't really check), but I'd assume it's in the $20-30 range.

Nautica Voyage strongly reminds me of Curve Soul... which reminds me of every other Curve I've tried. There's something about it I like a bit better though, and though I'd never buy it, I do find myself asking for samples to use from time to time.

Re: Aquatics, the best of the worst?

Originally Posted by Stuffman

Just a side note, we got a bunch of Baldessarini Del Mar EdTs and Deo Sticks in at TJ Maxx last week. I don't remember the price for sure (didn't really check), but I'd assume it's in the $20-30 range.

Nautica Voyage strongly reminds me of Curve Soul... which reminds me of every other Curve I've tried. There's something about it I like a bit better though, and though I'd never buy it, I do find myself asking for samples to use from time to time.

Re: Aquatics, the best of the worst?

I dont see why everyone hates aquatics so much. Dont get me wrong I am a man of heavy, sweet, thick, sticky, oriental tastes. But there is nothing wrong with a refreshing scent. I enjoy smelling different companies takes on aquatic frags. Nearly every company has one.

Re: Aquatics, the best of the worst?

I actually think Acqua di Gio is so popular for a reason - I think it is pretty damn good, for what it aims to be. A clean, fresh aquatic fragrance with a hint of woody base. I don't personally own it because I have heaps of frags I prefer (personally if I want fresh I go for citrus) but I don't bag the crap out of it like most here.

I think L'Eau d'Issey falls into the same category as AdG.

For newer, slightly less common aquatic, I would agree that Bvlgari Acqua is pretty smart.

Creed MI and Erolfa are v nice indeed if you want to pay that much for a fresh aquatic - but personally, I'd buy BdP or Tabarome and pick up a cheap bottle of one of the others!

Re: Aquatics, the best of the worst?

I agree with Thrax. I still enjoy my AdG every now and then. A very pure aquatic. The other Aquatics just don't really do it for me, certainly not the florals like Happy (too sweet/headachy), and also the overly woody ones (too faceless, how many "fresh woody" frags are there?). And I tried a lot of them last year.
Cool Play by Lacoste would be an interesting one. It seems so full of calone, much more than AdG that it is probably the freshest one I smelled so far.

Aqua Motu: this smells exactly like my skin does when coming out of a chlorinated swimming pool wearing sun lotion. Strange scent, probably won't get it.